Machine for topping beets.



No. 7l0,578. 4 Patented Oct. 7, I902.

E. HEYDE;

MACHINE FOR TOPPING. BEETS.

(Application filed Jan. 16, 1902.)

{No Model.)

WITNESSES,

UNETED Srnrns FFICEQ' EDIVARD IIEYDE, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN.

MACHINE FOR TOPPING BEETS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,578, dated October 7, 1902.

Application filed January 16, 1902. Serial No. 89,937. (No model.)

To (I/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD HEYDE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Topping Beets, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention is particularly designed for topping beets; and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of a knife to be attached to a beet-harvester to cut off the tops of the beets before they are pulled out of the ground, all as more fully hereinafter described,and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is aside elevation, partlyin vertical longitudinal section,of a beet-pulling machine equipped with the device for topping beets according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan. Fig. 3 is a detached elevation of the knife, knife-holder, and gage. Fig. at is a plan of Fig. 8, and Fig. 5 is an elevation similar to Fig. 3 embodying a modified form of gage.

In the drawings my invention is shown in connection with a beet-pulling machine, for which I do not make any claim, as the same forms the subject-matter of another application, Serial No. 89,401, of Alexander Morison.

This machine has a pair of pulling-cones which revolve by drawing the machine along, whereby the beets growing in a row are seized in the ground between the cones and pulled out of the ground. My invention, however, does not depend upon any particular construction and operation of beet-harvesting machine, as the only part in common is the wheeled supporting-frame.

The particular parts comprising my invention are as follows:

B is the topping-knife, having a horizontal blade formed at its forward edge with a cutting edge a, which extends obliquely across the whole width of a row of beets. This knife is removably attached to the lower end of a vertical plate 0 by means of a horizontal flange Z) on the lower end of the plate, to which the knife is secured by bolts 0. The plate 0 has vertical front and rear edges which travel in vertical guides cl,

formed on the vertical front and rear edges of a bracket E, in such a manner as to permit a free vertical play of the plate O in said guides. The bracket E is rigidly secured to the frame in any suitable manner and in such position that the knife travels in advance of the beet-pulling devices and directly in the path of the row of beets.

F in Figs. 3 and 4t is a curved gage-plate secured to a horizontal arm G, bolted vertically adj ustably to'the plate 0 in such a manner that the gage travels a little above and in advance of the knife. The gage-plate F extends laterally the whole width of the row of beets and presents its convex face on the under side in such manner that its front end travels above-the top of the beets. Instead of this curved gage-plate I may, however, use a gage-roller H, which revolves upon a stud I on the plate 0, as shown in Fig. 5.

K is a hand-lever arranged in proximity of the drivers seat and provided with suitable intermediate connection with the plate 0 for raising and lowering the knife. As shown this connection is made by means of a bellcrank lever K, one arm of which is connected to the hand-lever through a connecting-bar e and the other through a linkf with the center of the plate 0, the linkf being provided with a slot, whereby the plate 0, which carries the knife, is free to rise and fall with the gage, which in passing over the top of the beets in advance of the knife automatically regulates the height of the knife at which the tops are cutoff. At the same time the lever is adapted to raise the knife high enough to pass over obstructions or support it clear of the ground when th e machine is hauled about.

In my construction the driver from his seat can fully watch the operation of topping, as there is nothing to interfere with his free view, (the plate 0 and its guides, which travel entirely outside the row, hardly interfering with the sight;) nor is the operation of the pulling devices obstructed thereby, and thus the driver can give the closest attention to the operation of both and is enabled to control the work of both properly. At the same time the cutting device is not liable to become entangled with weeds or clogged up with the beet-tops.

What I claim as my invention isl. The combination with the wheeled main frame, of vertical guides depending from the frame in a plane parallel to its longitudinal center and to one side thereof, a plate mount-V ed in said guides free to rise and fall, a knifeblade secured at one end to the lower end of said plate and extending inwardly therefrom at right angles thereto, said blade provided with a cutting edge receding rearwardly from the point where the blade is attached to the opposite end of the blade and a gage carried by the plate and extending transversely in front of the knife-blade.

'2. The combination with the wheeled main frame, of vertical guides depending below said frame in a plane parallel to its longitudinal center and to one side thereof, a plate mounted in said guides free to rise and fall, a knife-blade secured to the lower end of said plate and extending inwardly therefrom at right angles thereto, said plate provided with a rearwardly-receding knifeedge, and a gage comprising a horizontal arm vertically adjustably secured to the plate and a curved plate secured at one side to said arm and extending inwardly therefrom in front of the knife-blade.

3. In a root-topping device, the combination with a wheeled riding-frame,of the bracket E formed with the depending vertical guides d, the plate 0 mounted in said guides free to rise and fall, the knife-blade B removably secured to the lower end thereof and projecting inwardly therefrom, the arm G secured to the plate 0, the curved gage-plate F secured to the arm G and projecting in front of the knifeblade and the hand-lever K having a lost-motion connection with the plate 0.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD 'HEYDE.

Witnesses ISMAY E. VAN SICKLE, W. G. EMERICK. 

